T.I.A.

‘T.I.A’ is a phrase that I became very familiar with whilst travelling in southern Africa earlier this year. It stands for ‘This is Africa’. The term is typically used when Westerners – tourists or expatriates – experience frustrations whilst here in Africa; anything from power shutdowns, to widespread corruption. In the 2006 film ‘Blood Diamond’, Leonardo DiCaprio uses ‘TIA’, which I think is how the phrase became so popular. For most, it’s the sort of thing you say – with a sigh and a smile – to divert your otherwise inevitable bad mood! I’ve been muttering ‘TIA’ to myself a lot recently... 

          Having been here for 3 months, I thought I had acclimatised to the fairly frequent water and/ or power shutdowns, but it’s been a whole new game these last 2 weeks. There have been more power cuts than I can count, and last week, 4 consecutive days of absolutely no electricity at all. In addition, more often than not there has been no running water for my showers, so I have become master at washing (hair and all!) in a bucket with 1 small jerrycan of cold water.

 

Showering in Kampala...

Note to mum and dad - I promise to never again complain about the poor water pressure in your shower in London. Worst of all, I can’t even feel sorry for myself. Living next to a slum is a constant reality check. Watching the ladies lug their giant jerrycans to and from the communal tap reminds me that, actually, electricity and running water in one’s home (even if temperamental) is a luxury.

So now that I am fully immersed in Ugandan life, my colleagues at KMS have adopted me in to one of the Buganda clans, and given me a new name to match! Everyone seems to really enjoy educating me on their traditional culture, particularly our KMS librarian, Maggie. I find it all incredibly interesting. Every time I pop my head in to the library to grab some music, I get caught up in a lesson and discussion about ancestry, marriage, language, and such like. I’m still learning, but as I understand it, the Buganda Kingdom consists of around 50 clans, all named after animals. It’s been decided that I am now part of Ngabi (Antelope) clan, and thus I have been renamed ‘Nabukeera’. An important rule to remember, is to not eat the animal that your clan in named after, which shouldn't be too hard given that I'm vegetarian. Instead, I have been enjoying lots of fresh fruit and vegetables from the market, courtesy of Beatrice.

Gillian McKeith from 'You Are What You Eat' would be proud!

You may remember I mentioned last month that we had a visitor from the BBC, Sarah, who came to Kampala Music School to record some interviews. Well finally, this weekend, the KMS documentary 'Notes from Kampala' is being aired on the BBC world service! To listen, and hear from some of the extraordinary people teaching and learning at KMS, click on this link.

I am extremely excited, as this time next week I will be on my way to the airport to pick up one of my lovely siblings! Immy is coming to visit and will be staying with me over Christmas, her birthday, and New Year. So there will be lots of celebrating to be done, and a great chance to venture out of Kampala and explore some more of Uganda. Immy, just to let you know, we will spend your first day here on a boda-boda, on a tour of the city with a lovely SAFE driver. Boda-bodas are moped taxis, and can be a little scary at first, but they are the best and most common way to get around, so the sooner you get used to them the better!

P.S. Supplementary photograph for the previous post:

St Pauls Cathedral, Namirembe (venue for the KMS Christmas Concert)